More model ideas

[SteamingWales]

If we do get an announcement at Ally Pally I wouldn't be surprised if it was some LT livered Panniers 

[Growling]

3 hours ago, ThaneofFife said:

Fran, are you looking at any units?

Would sell my right leg for a 3 car Class 303 EMU in Strathclyde orange and black with full lighting package and a great looking metal pantograph.

 

Fully agree. 2 x 3 car running together would be majestic. Probably a blue / grey 311 as well. :-)

[scottrains29]

1 hour ago, Growling said:

 

Fully agree. 2 x 3 car running together would be majestic. Probably a blue / grey 311 as well. :-)

SPT Carmine & Cream for me please!

[wombatofludham]

Ally Pally would be a good place to break cover with a 313 seeing as they were associated with the GN when new, replacing the 31s and Mk1 subs.  Now, who is making them?
 

[Wickham Green too]

47 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

Ally Pally would be a good place to break cover with a 313 ...

... though they weren't always in the most inspiring of liveries !

 

[nickb4141]

On 08/03/2024 at 20:14, wombatofludham said:

Without working at Barwell or Margate, no one will know for sure if units sell in expected quantities for the respective companies.  However.

1) Hornby have retooled their lemon flavoured 4-VEP.  When he announced this unexpected rabbit out of the hat (surprisingly not holding his nose given his kettle fetish) Simon Kohler actually said, on video, that the prices some of their previously poor output were fetching second hand meant it was worth the investment in a retool to address the lemony issues (I paraphrase but I distinctly remember the comment because I'd been saying much the same on this 'ere forum).  If units were slow sellers, they would have spent the money on yet another green tea urn.  When the duff first production run of 4-VEPs regularly sell on Tatbay for north of £200 given the Bay of Tat is the closest thing we have to an open and free market, that also is enough circumstantial evidence to suggest demand for units is strong.

2) Despite the comments on here about pricing, Bachmann have gone ahead with the retooled 4-CEPs in refurbished, rebuilt 1980s condition.  They have also recently released the 2-HAP.  The retool for the CEP would have cost several hundred thousand pounds as all four coach bodies required a retool, although they didn't have to tool up new underpinnings.  If they were getting feedback that the existing CEP models were sales lemons, they would have decided to spend that money elsewhere and given they are in competition for production slots with other companies in the Chinese owned group if the units were not selling, they would have used the precious slots for some other purpose.  They didn't, went ahead with the release and did so despite some price blowback.

3) Dapol have announced a Class 323 unit which no-one was expecting, and Revolution have given in to lobbying to upscale their N scale 321.  Neither of these companies can be considered big enough to "take a punt" on a risky venture, they must expect to be able to make a commercial product.

Cheap sales items a decade or more ago in some retailers is no evidence of slack sales today.  Serious six figure plus sums being spent by companies, none of whom can be considered business suicidalists and who need to make every penny count, is to my mind a better indication of the sales potential of electric units.  That Bachmann can launch the renovated 4-CEP at prices in the region of £500-600 having all the sales data of the original CEP models suggests they see a market that will give enough return on investment, and a hard nosed business decision to produce the model to me trumps any spurious pointing to past occasional sales reductions as "proof".

Well said! 👏 

[Ravel]

Just to echo the MU comments, some Civity family units would be nice please.. 195/196/197/331/397 the DMU variants all have similar chassis and identical bogies (?) and the EMUs do too, I know the 196s are slightly shorter but the 195 and 197 beyond the cab ends are very similar. 

 

Probably not as difficult to produce either, especially compared to the FLIRTs with all their bendy bits. 

 

I think priced right, these would nicely compliment other models in the pipeline.. especially as they are (hopefully!) going to be around for at least another 30 years, plenty of time to recoup tooling costs..!

[reddragon]

There are nearly 30 diesel shunter types never produced  . . . . 

[BVMR21]

Speaking of diesel shunters, Hunslet 5511 would be interesting as one of the prototypes, alongside around 60 production variants produced, could be interesting to look at?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scubatrack/25382836383

 

[The Johnster]

I would certainly approve of any jackshaft-driven 4-coupled diesel, but my favourite would be the D27xx as modelled incorrectly by Jouef Playcraft.  I prefer my diesels with late 1950s-style cabs…

[G-BOAF]

Of course an LNER steam loco (specifically and N2) would be HUGELY APPROPRIATE for Alexandra Palace this weekend. Literally a class that used to work onto the actual venue site, into a station which is still standing a stone's throw away, on a trackbed that quite likely the exhibitors are parked on! And something crying out for a decent model beyond the Mainline/Dapol/Hornby ancient version.

 

If AS don't announce it, I hope someone decent does. Then again I hope this every year and it does not happen!

[Wickham Green too]

48 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

... the Mainline/Dapol/Hornby ancient version. ...

No, the ANCIENT version was Hornby Dublo ...... my three-rail example was lettered LMS !

[BVMR21]

Do we know if something is going to be announced at Ally Pally?

[Davidjsmith]

6 minutes ago, BVMR21 said:

 

Do we know if something is going to be announced at Ally Pally?

 

They said not want to clear existing orders first .We have the new NEC show in April so maybe then?

[E100]

I think an issue with units is that if a manufacturer gets a sniff of someone else doing it they could very easily get scared. Duplication can work for class 37's/47's but not for a 325. The risk of tooling up 3-5 loco/coaches is huge. You could mechanically design a PEP to be interchangeable but the bodyshell differences and nuances throughout their service lives are huge to the best of my knowledge. You can sell a lot more Mk2b TSO's than you can a middle coach of a 507/508. Then again you can charge a premium for them and therefore whilst the risk is large the reward could be equally large for whoever steps up to the mantle. Dapol and Revolution stand to gain a lot from the 323/321's hitting that ~£100 a coach sweet spot at the retailers based on the enthusiasm seen so far.

 

IIRC Accurascale have previously said on this thread or another they looked at the PEP units but then heard someone else was so believe they backed off.

[Dunsignalling]

6 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

Of course an LNER steam loco (specifically and N2) would be HUGELY APPROPRIATE for Alexandra Palace this weekend. Literally a class that used to work onto the actual venue site, into a station which is still standing a stone's throw away, on a trackbed that quite likely the exhibitors are parked on! And something crying out for a decent model beyond the Mainline/Dapol/Hornby ancient version.

 

If AS don't announce it, I hope someone decent does. Then again I hope this every year and it does not happen!

 

On recent form, I reckon anything LNER with more than six wheels is under constant threat of red-box duplication. 😉

 

[franciswilliamwebb]

28 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

On recent form, I reckon anything LNER with more than six wheels is under constant threat of red-box duplication. 😉

 

An Accurascale A4 would be a nice cat to see amongst those pigeons. I doubt Hornby will ever try to do an accurate one until someone else does, it’s easier just to go for the easy to mould squared-off cylinder fairing 🙄

[PieGuyRob]

26 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

On recent form, I reckon anything LNER with more than six wheels is under constant threat of red-box duplication. 😉

 

Would Hornby attempt an Armstrong Whitworth 1-CO-1 locomotive?

 

https://www.lner.info/locos/IC/aw_1co1.php

 

I would have thought it would be more KRModels thing.

[Wickham Green too]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

... anything LNER with more than six wheels is under constant threat of red-box duplication. 

Can't say I remember a U1 announcement from Margate - that had quite a few more than six wheels ! 😊

[Dunsignalling]

43 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Can't say I remember a U1 announcement from Margate - that had quite a few more than six wheels ! 😊

Perhaps, but there's precious little else left for them to do without going pre-grouping!

 

Other than some decent corridor coaches, though there are four other brands I'd rather see do them than Hornby.....

[G-BOAF]

4 hours ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

An Accurascale A4 would be a nice cat to see amongst those pigeons. I doubt Hornby will ever try to do an accurate one until someone else does, it’s easier just to go for the easy to mould squared-off cylinder fairing 🙄

Existing A4 is really quite accurate. The cylinder compromise is necessary on the valanced example for anything less than scale curves, unless some kind of optional scale clip in replacement is possible. It is telling that the streamlined W1 is not really much better than the A4 despite almost 20 years difference in tooling. The more recent Dapol metal one was certainly not as good in terms of shape. 

I agree that in terms of valve gear and frame detail AS would do a better job.

[BVMR21]

Hopefully a Stanier 8F isn't too far away....

[richierich]

Second generation DMUs please!

[sincedric]

Hello all, I am quite new to the hobby and I only just started looking at Accurascale, your diesel locos certainly sparked interest for me! Also after seeing the recent SNG action, I realized there really is no modern MK1 options available in the market, perhaps your team could tap into that? That'd be awesome!

[reddragon]

1 hour ago, sincedric said:

Hello all, I am quite new to the hobby and I only just started looking at Accurascale, your diesel locos certainly sparked interest for me! Also after seeing the recent SNG action, I realized there really is no modern MK1 options available in the market, perhaps your team could tap into that? That'd be awesome!

Imagine heritage railway rakes!

 

Just simple Mk1 models of each region, elusive SO/SK/BGs would be good too to build a full rake and S prefix in blue/grey. So much scope in an unfulfilled market. I've never been able to complete WR rakes in any livery without renumbering.